How does the bacterium Shigella—the cause of a deadly diarrheal disease—detect that it's in a human host? Ohio University scientists have found that a biological "RNA thermometer" monitors whether the environment is right ...

(Phys.org) —A class of water-loving, jelly-like materials with uses ranges ranging from the mundane, such as superabsorbent diaper liners, to the sophisticated, such as soft contact lenses, could be tapped for a new line ...

(Phys.org) —3D structures of biological molecules like proteins directly affect the way they behave in our bodies. EPFL scientists have developed a new infrared-UV laser method to more accurately determine the structure ...

Experiments at Johns Hopkins have unearthed clues about which protein signaling molecules are allowed into hollow, hair-like "antennae," called cilia, that alert cells to critical changes in their environments.

(Phys.org) —As the U.S. Supreme Court moves closer to a decision this summer in the landmark gene patent case against Myriad Genetics, a study, led by Colorado State University, is shedding light on what may be at stake.

RNA, once considered a bit player in the grand scheme by which genes encode protein, is increasingly seen to have a major role in human genetics. In a study presented in the April 25 issue of the journal Cell, researchers ...

An Australian team led by researchers at the University of New South Wales has achieved a breakthrough in quantum science that brings the prospect of a network of ultra-powerful quantum computers - connected via a quantum ...

Why do rose petals have rounded ends while their leaves are more pointed? In a new study published April 30 in the open access journal PLOS Biology, scientists from the John Innes Centre and University of East Anglia, UK, ...

(Phys.org) —There's hope for patients with myotonic dystrophy. A new small molecule developed by researchers at the University of Illinois has been shown to break up the protein-RNA clusters that cause the disease in living ...

(Phys.org) —In a finding likely to fundamentally reshape biologists' understanding of how vertebrate cells communicate, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and the UC-San Francisco have discovered ...